APEX
by chubsXofXtheXfrozenXstates
Summary: Naminé moved to Twilight Town during the summer. She makes some new friends and seems to be enjoying life. However not is all as it seems. Who really are these six friends of hers, and what are they hiding? Naminé's in for one crazy ride.
1. The End and the Beginning

Disclaimer: I do not own anything in this story that evidently, or not evidently, belongs to someone else, mainly, Square Enix and Disney. Anyone else…. Well, it belongs to them then.

* * *

"Get them out of here right now!"

"You have the right to remain silent."

"This room's clear!"

"Has anyone seen Doctor Kingsley?"

Soldiers moved back and forth, leading men and women in white lab coats towards secure armored cars. More soldiers poured into the building, searching for any remaining scientists and employees, as well as any test subjects. The operation was going as planned.

"_Sergeant Hanson. Sergeant Hanson, come in, over."_

Sergeant Kevin Hanson keyed the comms link. "This is Hanson, over. What's your status?"

"_First floor's clear. C Team's moving upstairs. We're mopping up here and we'll head out in a few, over."_

"Roger that. Hanson out."

He clicked the headset off and turned to Corporal Leridan. "Now we just have to find Doctor Kingsley, and I'd call this a good day."

No sooner had he said it, a window on the third floor shattered. A body flew out and landed on a car parked in the parking lot, caving the hood in. The man emitted a groan. Several soldiers ran over to the ruined car. One of the men waved the Sergeant over.

"Hey Sarge! It's Kingsley!"

A stunned Hanson jogged over to the men. He pushed his way through until he could see the doctor. Kingsley was bleeding from several deep scratches on his face and arms. Hanson leaned towards the disabled man.

"Kingsley, what happened to you?"

The doctor opened his eyes and stared right at him. "I made them what they are. And I paid for my sins."

* * *

The knife glistened, reflecting the light from the fixtures on the ceiling. Doctor Kingsley advanced toward the three teens huddled in the corner.

"You are proof of the power of science. Never before has anyone been able to accomplish what I have done. But unfortunately, they can't find you. I can't afford to pay the price for your existence. You weren't meant to exist, and it needs to stay that way."

One of the teens spoke up. "If you knew it would come to this, then why did you even do it?!"

Kingsley grinned maliciously. "Just so I could know that it was possible." He wiped the blade on his lab coat. "Oh, don't worry. I have plenty of records of my successes. You weren't a total waste." He slowly walked closer.

The boy who had spoken turned to his companion, another boy about the same age as him. "C'mon man, if you're going to do something, do it now."

The other boy shook his head, fear in his eyes. "I don't know if I can. I still haven't mastered it. Last time I tried it, I –"

"We don't have time to freak out about this!" the third boy, slightly older than the other two, said. "It's life or death right now!"

Kingsley stepped closer.

The blade rose slowly.

The middle boy closed his eyes and stretched his right arm forward. The air in front of him seemed to stop and round up around the edges. Kingsley stopped and eyed the spectacle. Suddenly, it rushed forward, sending Kingsley flying out the window.

* * *

"We've got the kids, sir!" an infantryman shouted to Hanson. Hanson looked over at the three who had just joined their companions, two girls and a boy. Corporal Leridan walked up beside his commanding officer. "What are we going to do with them, Sarge?"

"Keep 'em together, that's what you do."

Both men turned around. Hanson had his sidearm drawn, pointed at the speaker. "Who on Earth are you?"

The spikey redheaded man raised his hands. "Whoa, lower the gun, man."

The gun stayed leveled at his head. "Then tell me who you are."

The triangular tattoos under the man's eyes glowed briefly. "I'm the first success."

"What?"

"Yep, I was the first experiment that actually turned out right and survived. The name's Axel. Got it memorized?"

"Cut the lip, man, you're speaking to a Radiant Garden Marine Sergeant. You will show respect when –"

"Easy, Leridan." Hanson lowered his gun and turned to Axel. "What do you purpose we should do?"

Axel pulled a map out from his back pocket and spread it out on the hood of a car. He pointed to a spot circled in red on the map. "Here."

Hanson cocked an eyebrow. "Twilight Town?"

Axel nodded. "It's a smaller community. I can set up suitable living arrangements. If they want, I can get a skyline suite in downtown for them."

Hanson thought for a second, then nodded. "All right. They'll go to Twilight Town with you."

He turned to the corporal. "Give them the news."

Leridan nodded and headed to the group of kids. He studied them from a distance. Four boys; a brunette, two blonds, and strangely, a silver-haired kid. There were also two girls, a redhead and a brunette. He sighed and headed over to them.

Leridan knelt in front of the redheaded girl who was crying. "Don't cry. Everything's going to be alright."

The girl sniffed. "I'm not crying because I'm sad, I'm crying because I'm happy to get out of that torture chamber."

Leridan nodded grimly. "We're taking you somewhere safe. You'll be going with a man named Axel. Apparently, he's a former experiment here too."

The blonde boy with spiky hair looked at him. "Where are we going?"

Leridan leaned closer. "Have you ever heard of Twilight Town?"


	2. First Day

2

* * *

Two years later…..

"_Good morning, Twilight Town! I'm Jack Vall and it's 6 a.m. Looks like today's gonna be another scorcher, so bring some water with yo-"_

Click.

Naminé Richards sat up and stretched. _First day at a new school. That's always fun, _she thought. She got out of bed and headed for her bathroom to get ready. She left her bedroom door locked.

After a 15 minute shower and drying her hair, there was a knock at the door. However, Naminé didn't hear it and continued to brush her teeth. The knock came again, louder this time. Still nothing. A loud crash caused Naminé to drop her toothbrush into the sink. She hurried out of the bathroom to see her older brother Cloud standing there, holding an outfit for her in his hands. Her bedroom door lay at his feet.

"Cloud!" Naminé scowled.

Cloud shrugged. "What?"  
"You kicked my bedroom door down!"

"Don't lock it next time. Besides, this is my place, and I can fix the door. Don't get so worked up."

Naminé sighed. "I know. I'm sorry."

Cloud frowned. "Hey now, no need to get all sad and stuff. You didn't do anything." He tossed the clothes on her bed. "There you go. Twenty minutes or else I leave you." He picked up the door, set it back in place, and left. Naminé giggled.

_I love you, Cloud._

* * *

The motorcycle pulled to a stop in front of the school. Naminé climbed off behind her brother.

"You do know that there's a speed limit, right, Cloud?"

Cloud smirked as he revved the engine. "Rules were meant to be broken, right, Naminé?" With that, he took off out of the parking lot. Naminé shook her head, grinning, and started for the school. The ominous-looking Twilight Town Academy building made her slow her pace.

_Oh, this could get really bad really fast, _she thought as she resumed the trek to the front door. She opened the door slowly and peered in.

The hall was deserted. Not a single person was in sight.

She walked in cautiously, wondering if the school was even in session or if all the kids were still on summer vacation. She started heading down a hallway when she heard a voice behind her.

"Excuse me, are you new here?"

Naminé turned around to see who had spoken. A redheaded girl stood there, a curious look in her eyes and a smile on her face.

"Y-yes. Yes I am." Namine replied. The girl grinned even more.

"Sweet! My name's Kairi. What's your name?"

"Naminé."

"Naminé, huh. What grade are you in?"

"Tenth."

Her smile grew even more. _How is it possible to smile like that? _"Me too! Here, I'll show you around."

Just then the bell rang. Kairi looked at the clock. "Well, looks like homeroom is done. Be ready for the sea of bitter kids."

"What?" Naminé asked, and then suddenly, six doors down the hall flew open simultaneously, and teenagers started pouring out of the classrooms. Naminé got lost in the crowd of the mumbling kids as they headed for their lockers. Somehow, Kairi managed to get her way over to her and grabbed her arm. "C'mon! I'll take you to the office. You can get your schedule and everything and meet some of the staff. Most of them are pretty nice."

They pushed their way through the crowd until they came to two wooden doors. After going through them and down some stairs, they entered the office on their left. A woman looked up at them and smiled.

"Hey Kairi. Who's your friend?"

Kairi grinned. "This is Naminé."

The woman looked at Naminé and extended her hand. "My name is Tifa Lockheart." Namine shook her hand. "I hope you enjoy it here."

"Oooh, who's the fresh meat?" a girl in her early twenties asked, popping out from behind the desk. Tifa sighed and looked back at Naminé. "This is Yuffie. She's the cheerleading coach here."

"Yep!" Yuffie exclaimed, vaulting over the counter. "No one is more acrobatic or flexible than me. Check this out." She bent all the way back so that her hands touched the floor. She then put her head between her legs and looked up at them. "Ta-da!"

Naminé leaned closer to Kairi and whispered, "Remind me to never try out for cheerleading." Kairi giggled.

"Oh!" Tifa spoke up, and handed Naminé a packet of papers. "Here is all the information that you'll need. Feel free to explore and meet some people."

Naminé frowned. "Shouldn't I be going to class?"

"No, we usually let the new kids get to know the place on the first day." Tifa winked. "Welcome to Twilight Town Academy."

Kairi grabbed Naminé's hand. "Come on, there's someone that I want you to meet." She lead her down a hallway next to the office counter. There were several rooms in the hallway. They stopped at the third door. Naminé looked at the label next to the door: Vice Principal. Kairi knocked three times.

"Who is it?"

Kairi smiled. "The Rose of Radient Garden!"

"C'mon in, kid."

She opened the door and took Naminé inside. Inside was a tall redheaded man with spiky hair, hands behind his head, and feet on the desk. Naminé raised an eyebrow. _This is the vice principal?_

The man sat up. "Hey Kairi!" He then turned his attention to Naminé. "Haven't seen you before. What's your name, new kid?"

Naminé didn't know if she should be offended or not by how the man spoke to her since she didn't know if that's how he always was. "My name is Naminé."

"Naminé." The man rubbed his chin. "Cool name. Very stylish."

"Um, thank you?"

"Now then," he clapped his hands together before extending his hand. Naminé shook it. His hand felt abnormally warm.

_Hmm, kind of odd._

"I am Vice Principal Axel Ranier. In case you didn't notice, I'm the vice principal here at Twilight Town Academy." Naminé noticed a flicker of red and a small wisp of smoke start rising from a pile of papers. "I'm pretty sure you'll do great here. Just hang with the right crowd, do your best, and you'll be alright."

"Um, Mr. Ranier – "

"Please, just call me Axel."

"Ok. Axel, uh, your desk is on fire."

Axel looked at the papers which were now starting to burn into a pile of ash. "Whoa. Yeah, that could be a problem." He looked at Kairi expectantly, eyebrows raised. Kairi , who was standing a bit farther back, gave a shocked expression and tilted her head at Naminé. Axel sighed quietly and slapped the fire out with his hands. He then looked at the papers.

"Well, what do ya know. Looks like we won't be paying the electric bill this month."

Kairi smacked her forehead as Namine asked, "Why?"

Axel grinned. "The total's burned off."

* * *

"You have to meet my friends."

Naminé followed Kairi to the lunchroom. "I'm sure they're incredible."

Kairi's smile faltered slightly before returning to normal. "Oh, you have no idea."

Once they reached the top of the steps, Kairi started scanning the lunchroom until she saw what she was looking for. She then dragged Naminé towards a table where four boys and a girl sat.

"Hey guys!" she called out.

All five looked up, and two of the boys waved. "Hey Kairi!" a grinning brunette said.

Kairi stopped at the head of the table with Naminé in tow. "Everyone this is Naminé. She's new here."

The brunette boy stood up. "I'm Sora."

"And this is Donald and Goofy." The silver-haired boy said, pointing to each of the boys sitting next to Sora. Everyone laughed.

The boy on Sora's left looked at her. "Name's Hayner. Nice to meet you."

"My name's Riku," the silverhead said.

The other girl spoke up. "I'm Olette."

The four friends looked at the last boy, a blond, expectantly. The boy just stared blankly at his tray. Sora waved his hand in front of the boy's face. "Hellooooo? Anybody home?" The blond boy snapped out of it and looked at Sora. Sora grinned. "We have a guest."

The boy turned and looked Naminé straight in the eye. She caught her breath. _He looks just like-_

"Hey, I'm Roxas." The boy said.

Namine found her voice again. "M-my name's Namine."

Roxas smiled. "It's nice to meet you, Naminé. Here, we'll make room." The boys all shifted down a bit so that Kairi and Naminé could sit down.

"So, how's the first day been?" Kairi asked.

The boys started groaning. "It's brutal." Sora said, slamming his head on the table. "The human body was not meant to withstand this type of torture."  
"I agree," muttered Riku. "When am I ever going to have to solve a quadratic equation to save my life?"

Sora looked up. "Well, there was that one time."

"Shut up, Sora."

Naminé giggled. "I know what you mean, and I haven't been to any classes today."

Hayner snorted. "Well, have fun tonight. We have 30 problems in algebra 2 tonight."

"Oh, math. Why do you exist?" Naminé grumbled, placing her head in her hand. The table laughed.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm supposed to know how a gummi engine works by Wednesday. " Roxas said. "Cid's pretty passionate about that stuff and he wants us to share that passion."

"I have a three page essay on what I did during summer vacation." Olette said. "It's due on Friday."  
Hayner slapped his forehead. "Good grief, it's the first week of school, and they're already swamping us. There has to be a law against that."

Roxas grinned. "Well, Hayner, if you ever run for the school board in a few years, I'll vote for you."

Hayner smirked. "Yeah, like that's gonna happen."

The bell rang, and everyone said goodbye and headed for their classes.

* * *

The rest of the day went by quickly, and Naminé and Kairi were walking outside the west building. Suddenly, a boy came crashing through a window and landed on the sidewalk in front of them. The girls gasped in surprise. The boy stood up slowly and started backing away from the window, fear in his eyes.

"Don't ever pick on her again, or it'll be worse next time, you hear me?" Riku stood in the broken window. The boy nodded before staggering into the parking lot. Riku locked eyes with Kairi for a brief second. She gave him a look that said "We'll talk later." Riku turned around and looked at the small black-haired girl standing there.

"Thanks, Riku." She said timidly.

He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "No problem, Xion. You have my number; just give me a call if someone's bugging you again."

She nodded and watched him slowly leave. Outside, Kairi turned to a shaken Naminé. "Don't worry about Riku. He doesn't hurt his friends or people who don't deserve it." Naminé nodded. She really wasn't worried about who was involved in the situation, but rather the situation itself. She had read up on the school and all the little details included.

Like, the windows were bulletproof. They were even tested with different types of firearms.

Yet, Riku just threw a kid through one like it was cardboard.

_How is that even possible?_

"Uh, Kairi?"

"Hmm?"

"…How did Riku do that?"

Kairi frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I mean how did Riku throw that kid through that window?"

Kairi shrugged, "Well, I imagine he just picked him up by his shirt and tossed him forward."

Naminé looked at her. "You know what I mean."

Kairi sighed. "Well, Riku's pretty strong."

"Kairi, those windows are bulletproof!"

Kairi spun to face her. "Look, just don't worry about it, all right?"

Naminé went to say something, then closed her mouth. "Ok, I'll stop."

Kairi smiled. "Good. Now let's get going."

* * *

"Not possible." Cloud grunted as he did another pull-up. "A human being cannot throw another person through bulletproof glass."

"I'm telling you, I saw it with my own eyes! I read up on the school, and the windows are bulletproof."

"Yeah," Cloud said. "And I read up on the school too. Not every window in those buildings was replaced, just the ones in high risk areas."

"Wow," Naminé said. "How'd I miss that?"

"Just moving too fast, Sis." Cloud dropped from the bar and ruffled her hair. "By the way, Zack and Aerith are coming over tomorrow and we're all going out to eat, so I hope you haven't made plans."

"Are you kidding?" Naminé said. "I wouldn't miss it for anything." She loved Zack and Aerith like family. They practically were to her. Zack was her brother's best friend, and the three of them went to collage together. Cloud and Zack had served in the military for four years too.

"All right. Sorry that I didn't ask you earlier." Cloud said.

Naminé grinned. "No worries. I'm going to go to bed now, ok?"

Cloud gave her a thumbs up from where he was doing one-armed pushups. Naminé smiled and went upstairs. When she got to her room, the door was back on the hinges with a note taped to the front.

_Told you I could fix it._

_- Cloud_

Naminé grinned again. _I love you, Cloud._

She set her alarm and went to bed.

_First day at a new school. Yep, it's pretty good._

* * *

Reviews are fine, but not necessary. Also, any references made to any games, movies, or companies, yeah, not mine. Please let me know what I need to fix.


	3. Friends, Fights, and Family

3

* * *

The next morning, Naminé climbed out of bed and made sure that her door was unlocked before heading to the bathroom to get ready. She didn't need a repeat of yesterday morning. While she was drying her hair, there was a crash. She dashed into her room and found Cloud standing there, the door once again at his feet. Naminé sighed.

"Is this going to happen on a daily basis?"

Cloud smirked. "Maybe. Depends on my mood." He tossed the clothes on her bed. "You know the drill."

"Oh, don't worry, I'll walk to school today."

Cloud stopped and looked at her. "Are you sure?"

Naminé nodded.

"Positive?"

"Yes."

"…. One hundred percent sure?"

"Yes! I'll be fine!" Naminé smiled.

"All right," Cloud said. "Don't be late."

Fifteen minutes later, Naminé exited the house and walked down the steps. She turned and started walking towards the school.

"Hey Blondie! Lookin' hot!"

Naminé glanced over her shoulder and scowled. Her next door neighbor Seifer was standing in his front yard with his posse, Rai and Fuu. He winked at her and waved. _What a creepy jerk. _She thought.

"Wow, thanks Seifer, but I didn't know you were like that."

Naminé looked down the road to see Riku, Sora, and Roxas burst out laughing as Hayner stood there, smirking. Seifer growled and looked at the group. Rai stepped in front of Seifer and stretched out his arms. "Hey, that's not really cool, y'know? Seifer's not like that, y'know?"

"Hey Rai," Riku called out. He pointed at the stairs leading down to the park in the neighborhood. "I heard that if you count the steps going up and down, you won't get the same number."  
"Seriously?" Rai took off for the steps waving at Fuu. "C'mon, Fuu! We gotta go count these steps, y'know?" Fuu smacked her forehead and followed the larger boy.

Naminé giggled and joined the four boys. "Do you mind if I walk with you guys?" A simultaneous shake of heads gave her the answer. They all set off for school.

"Hey," Sora pointed to a tree seventy yards down the road. "Last one to that tree buys ice cream for the winners. What do ya say?"

Riku nodded. "I'm up for it."

"Count me in!" Hayner shouted.

"I'll pass."

"Me too."

Naminé and Roxas smiled at each other.

"All right." Sora said grinning. "Ready? Set?" He started running. "Go!"

"Hey, no fair!" Hayner shouted, racing to catch up to the brunette.

"Hayner takes only two things in life seriously: challenges and ice cream." Roxas said to Naminé. She giggled.

They walked in silence for a few minutes. Suddenly, they both heard a faint yell in the distance.

"_NO WAY! EVERY TIME I COUNT, IT'S DIFFERENT, Y'KNOW?"_

The two teens looked at each other and started laughing.

"So, how do you like Twilight Town?" asked Roxas.

"It's nice," replied Naminé. "My parents were running low on finances, so I came here to live with my brother."

"Oh," Roxas said. "I'm sorry to hear that."

Naminé smiled at him. "It's ok. I know it was for the best."

"So, what's your brother's name?" he asked.

"Cloud."

Something flashed through his mind. A face. Blond hair, spiky, carrying a huge sword. He grimaced.

Namine placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, are you alright?"

He nodded. "Yeah, don't worry about it." They continued walking. Roxas spoke up again. "So, what does your brother do?"

"He used to work for a private military contractor called SOLDIER. It was run by the Shinra Electric Power Company back in Radiant Garden. Have you heard of them?"

Roxas nodded. "Yeah, they're huge."

Naminé continued. "He left though. He works as a deliveryman now. His best friend and former coworker Zack quit too." Another face, this time with black, slicked back spiky hair, another huge sword. The man shaking Roxas' head. A voice.

_Hey, are you ok?_

"He's teaching somewhere now, but I don't know where." She looked at Roxas, who was holding his head. "Are you sure you're ok?"

Again, he nodded. "I'm fine." They met up with the other three boys a few minutes later. Hayner grinned triumphantly. "Sora's buying. Again." He said to Roxas. Roxas smirked. "Well then I guess that means I'm buying then." At that moment, Sora looked up from where he was sitting under the tree. A light glinted in his eyes. "Hey Roxas, you don't happen to have ten munny that you aren't using, do you?" Everyone laughed.

-  
The bell rang. Naminé rose from her seat and checked her schedule. _History's next._ She left the classroom and headed outside. She was walking toward the west building when she heard a commotion in the courtyard. She saw a crowd of people gathered around to figures. Both were blond. The one she could positively make out was Seifer. The other was-

Naminé gasped. _Hayner?_

She immediately dropped her bag and ran over to the shouting crowd. She pushed her way through the sea of people. Finally, she was able to see Hayner and Seifer squared off. Seifer sneered at the other blond boy.

"You're going to pay for that comment this morning, Blondie."

Hayner smirked. "Dude, you're blond too."

"SHUT UP!" Seifer shouted and swung a punch at Hayner's face. The boy dodged quickly to the right, then returned to his original position. Seifer swung again, and again, Hayner dodged. Seifer kicked at Hayner's midsection, but the boy jumped back and delivered a punch right into Seifer's face. Seifer jumped back stunned as some of the crowd cheered. He glared at them, and most of them shut up.

"I'll teach you for making me look like a loser!"

He went back at Hayner with a ferocity that made Naminé gasp. He swung and kicked with all he had, but somehow, Hayner managed to jump or duck under every onslaught. Finally, Seifer landed a kick in Hayner's stomach, sending the smaller boy flat on his back, the wind knocked out of him. Seifer stood over his victim, smirked in victory, and reared his fist.

Someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around-

Right into Riku's oncoming fist. Seifer dropped to the ground, out cold. Most of the crowd burst into cheers, while others walked away scowling. Riku helped Hayner up.

"Thanks, man." The bruised blond said to him.

Riku grinned. "No problem. That moron had to learn his lesson sometime or another." He looked down at said moron and spit on the ground right next to his head.

There was a commotion in the crowd off to the right. Namine looked to see Rai pushing his way through the mass of kids, Fuu calmly walking behind him. Rai picked up the unconscious teen and slung him over his shoulder. He glared at the three of them.

"Seifer wasn't feeling so hot today, y'know?" he growled.

"Never again." Fuu muttered, leveling each of them with a cold stare before walking off with Rai.

Naminé sighed. "C'mon, let's go to class." The two boys nodded and followed her to the West building. While they were walking behind Naminé, Riku and Hayner exchanged a fist pound.

* * *

Naminé could hear the teacher inside the classroom from where she stood in the hall. She took a deep breath before knocking three times on the door and entered the classroom. The teacher stopped midsentence and looked at the newcomer. Naminé froze.

Black spiky hair. Bright blue eyes.

_No way. _Naminé smiled, and the teacher gave her a look telling her not to say anything. Namine immediately dropped the smile and hung her head a bit.

"Well, who do we have here?" He looked at his watch. "The bell rang three minutes ago." He pointed to a seat in the first row. "Late people get to sit in the front where I can spit on them." Naminé smiled as the rest of the class laughed. She quickly sat down in her assigned seat.

The man stood right in front of her desk, grinning. "So, you're just gonna sit there like a bump on a log and leave us hanging? What's your name kid?"

_Funny how everybody likes calling me 'kid.' I don't look that young do I? Or do I act too immature? I've hardly done anything, so I don't know how- _

The teacher waved his hand in front of her face. "Hello? Anyone home?" The class started laughing again, causing Naminé to snap out of her thoughts and start blushing. "M-my name is Naminé. I'm new here."

The teacher crossed his arms. "There, that wasn't so hard, was it?" He grinned. "I am Mr. Zachary Fair. If you call me that, I will kill you." More chuckles from the peanut gallery. "Mr. Fair or Mr. Zack is fine. Anyways, I'm the history teacher here and we were just talking about the first settlers of Twilight Town before you walked in, so if we could continue please."

Naminé smiled the entire hour at her "Uncle" Zack. She knew that if there was one class that she would like all year, it was this one.

* * *

Yeah, kinda short, been a while since I've updated. Again, reviews are nice, but not necessary. If you want, please let me know what I need to fix and what I can change.


	4. Just Another Day At The Office

4

* * *

The Shinra-made MH-53 Pave Low helicopter thundered through the cloudy night sky. Aaron Newman looked back from his position at the right turret to get a look at his cargo. Four teens, each wearing a dark cloak, sat in the bay, their hoods up, completely silent. He didn't know much about them, only that they were supposed to drop them off at a place called "The World That Never Was," a city created by refugees who had fled their war-torn countries. The dark city was the closest thing to a safe haven that these people had, and it needed to stay that way.

The headset in his helmet crackled to life, and the pilot, Matt Gregson, had to shout over the roar of the engines. "All right, ETA's a minute thirty! Brief 'em on the mission, Rookie!"

Aaron grinned. _Rookie. Looks like that one's sticking. _He walked to the front of the bay and raised his arms. The four boys looked at him.

"Ok, listen up!" Aaron shouted. "You've got an HVT on your hands! Guy's name's Xemnas, a.k.a. The Superior. He's a local mob boss and drug kingpin, and tonight, you guys are shutting down his operation. We'll be putting you down a few miles outside the city, so you'll have to do some hiking!" He noticed the kids look at each other. "Hey, do you want a riot to break out because a bunch of people scarred by war see a military chopper flying over Downtown? Didn't think so! As I was saying, we'll put you down, then the best way into the underground hideout is through the sewers, located just outside the city limits. Go in, get Xemnas, who will from now on be referred to as X-Ray, and get back to the LZ! We'll pick you up at 2200 hours!" He looked at his watch. "That gives you three hours!"

"We're at the drop zone, preparing to unload the cargo!" the pilots voice came on over the intercom. Aaron looked at the teens. "You good?" They nodded, and Aaron turned back to the cockpit and gave them a thumbs up. Gregson returned the sign and hit a button on the control panel. The left door slid open and two ropes were deployed. A green light came on. Aaron grinned as the four teens fast-roped down to the ground and headed for the city.

_I love my job._

* * *

"Clear left."

"Clear right."

"Got our six."

Roxas nodded at Hayner. "All right, move up."

Riku, Sora, Hayner, and Roxas had just made it to the outskirts of the city. Roxas checked his watch. 2022 hours. They were making good time.

His ear piece crackled and Axel's voice came in. "_You guys at the city yet?"_

"Yep."

"_Ok, go east about twenty yards and look to your left. There should be a drainage pipe leading to the city's sewers."_

Roxas did as he was told and soon came upon a metal pipe with a rusty drain cover on it. "Found it."

He kneeled down and pulled out a flashlight. He searched the cover for any screws. He sighed in defeat when he found none.

He looked back at his crew. "Well, no screws. Looks like it's welded on pretty well. I don't know how to get it off, but if I think we can –"

Riku walked up, gripped the bars of the cover, and ripped it clean off without breaking a sweat. He tossed the rusty piece of metal into a nearby bush. "You were saying?"

Roxas grunted. "Whatever works. I'm not complaining." He then started to climb into the pipe.

"Hold on!" exclaimed Sora. The three boys looked at him. "We need to cover our scent, plus the sewers reek." A thin, transparent bubble surrounded each team. "This way we'll keep our stench and the fresh air in with us." Hayner nodded while Riku climbed into the pipe, followed by Roxas. They crawled about fifty feet before the pipe dropped out onto a service platform. The sewage flowed freely since it had rained the previous night.

Roxas looked back at Sora. "Good thinking with the bubbles." Sora beamed with joy at being complemented.

* * *

Forty-five minutes later, the boys had exited the disgusting part of the sewers via a hidden door that led to many winding passageways that made up the secret hideout. Roxas was walking down one of said passages when something caught his eye. An unopened envelope was lying on the ground. He picked it up and saw that the address had been washed away. He opened the envelope, and inside he found a soggy letter and a photograph of a man with shoulder length blond hair carrying a small boy on his shoulders. The boy had spiky blond hair and bright blue eyes. Roxas gasped in shock.

It was like looking at a spitting image of yourself ten years ago.

Roxas flipped the picture over to see if there was any writing on the back, but, to his dismay, none could be found. He then preceded to read what was left of the note.

_June 7, 2000_

_My dearest nephew,_

_I apologize for not coming to see your graduation play. Do not be mistaken, I do believe that graduating from kindergarten in a very important event. Unfortunately, I had some urgent work that needed to be taken care of. If you don't understand, your parents do, so ask them. Maybe they can explain it better than I. Know that I am very proud of you, Ventus, and that I love you like my own son._

_Your loving uncle,_

_Ansem_

Roxas folded up the letter and put it in his pocket. _Ansem… Where have I heard that name before? _Just then, Sora peeked around the corner. "We found a door."

Roxas jogged over to the brunette and followed him to the area where Riku and Hayner were staring at some odd markings on the wall. A keypad was situated on the handle. Riku nodded toward it. "Looks like we're on the right track."

Hayner was mumbling to himself, looking at the rows of blocks and the few that were colored. He finally nodded in understanding and punched 6421 on the keypad. The light turned green.

Sora stared at him in amazement. "How did you know that code?"

"It's actually kind of simple," Hayner replied. "You just have to know a little bit about the person that you are dealing with. For instance, Xemnas likes puzzles. Now, most normal people don't know that, so he thought it would be safe to put the password in a puzzle." Hayner pointed at the six rows of blocks. "When Xemnas first started his business, he lived in a six-floored apartment building." He then pointed to the fourth row of blocks, which were painted white. "He also lived on the fourth floor." He then pointed to three different blocks scattered throughout the puzzle, two light blue and one pink. "He and his two brothers got a gang together, and his sister started supplying him with the drugs he sold." He pointed to each color respectively as he said this. "Alphabetically, blue comes before pink, so therefore the code is 6-4-2-1." Hayner looked at the confused and astonished boys looking back at him. "Like I said, not that hard."

Riku blinked a few times, and then opened the door. He jumped back into the hall just in time before a hail of gunfire came rocketing through the doorframe.

"Sora, divert the bullets back now!" Roxas shouted from where he had taken shelter. Sora nodded and gripped the air around the bullets. He stopped them, twisted them around, and sent them hurtling back into the room. There were a few cries of pain, and then silence.

Riku lead the others into the room and immediately kicked down a steel door, crushing the henchman waiting on the other side. Immediately, Sora put up a shield of air to protect them from the incoming onslaught of bullets. Roxas whipped his arm out and blinded everyone in the room with a flash of light. Taking advantage of this, Riku went around the room and started knocking people out while Hayner ran to disable their means of communication.

After taking care of the situation in the room and grabbing a few of the guns, the group headed for the finely polished wooden door. Sora knocked a couple times.

"Enter."

Roxas opened the door and saw a man sitting in a comfy desk chair. He fired a bullet right next to the man's face. The man picked up a golden box, caught the bullet, and closed the lid. He tucked the box into his suit jacket. "Well gentleman," he said, looking up, "If I can even call you that. You look like a bunch of hooligans off the street with those jackets." Roxas, Sora, and Hayner stood silent as Riku held up a pair of zip cuffs. Xemnas chuckled. "I suppose you intend to arrest me. Come and try."

* * *

Xemnas' pitiful resistence lasted a whole five seconds before Riku had him on the ground and secured for delivery. They dragged the defeated drug lord and mob boss through the sewers, messing up his suit and hair. When the pave low finally arrived at 2200 hours, he was happy to be leaving that forsaken place that he had come to hate in a half an hour.

Axel looked back at the filthy messed up man. "Nice to see you again, Fluffy!" He laughed as Xemnas growled back at him.

The boys exchanged a simultaneous fist pound after they had sat down. Roxas just turned and stared out of one of the windows.

_Just another day at the office._

_

* * *

_

Again, anything that doesn't belong to me…. Doesn' t belong to me. Simple as that. Reviews are cool, but not required. Enjoy your life, people.


	5. Family

5

* * *

The _Rosa del Mare_ on the beautiful Twilight Beach was the most exquisite – and expensive – restaurant in Twilight Town. The sun hung low and reflected brilliantly off of the large viewing windows, covered in handprints from the children always looking out over the water, much to the cleaners' dismay. It was the most beautiful time of the day.

"Thanks for taking us out to eat, Cloud, but man, you didn't have to pick such a nice restaurant. I mean, man, a burger's fine enough for me."

Cloud smiled for once at his best friend Zack Fair. "No way. Only the best for my two best friends."

Aerith Gainsborough slipped her hand into Zack's and smiled at Cloud. "It was a very nice gesture."

"You bet it was!" Zack exclaimed happily. "But hey, I'm just happy to have some quality time with my buddy!" With that, he preceded to give Cloud a noogie, causing Namine to giggle. Aerith slapped him on the arm. "We're in public! Knock that off."

Zack immediately let go and scratched his head, his face red with embarrassment. "Sorry, sweetheart. That was my bad."

They were escorted to a table by a tall man with longish blond hair. Naminé looked at the nametag pinned to his coat.

_Snow._

"Snow?" She immediately blurted out. The young man looked at her, eyebrow cocked. "As in Snow Villiers?"

The man nodded. "That's my name, kid. Don't wear it out." He grinned.

"Why are you working here when you're on Team NORA?" Naminé asked.

Snow smirked. "We run the restaurant here. We can earn some extra money for the team and for charity." He glanced out over the sea of people and looked back, smiling. "Look's like it's working."

Naminé smiled and nodded. Snow led them to a booth by the windows looking out over the sea. They all sat down and Snow took their orders.

Naminé looked across the table at Zack. "I had no idea you were teaching at Twilight Town Academy."

"I didn't either. And here I thought you guys would be coming from some far out place to come see us when I made these arrangements, and it turns out you guys both live right around the corner." Cloud said.

Aerith smiled. "Well, Zack's job took him here, and I got a job at the Twilight Town Bouquet, so it all worked out."

Cloud smiled. "I'm just glad to have you guys back."

Their food came a few minutes later. While they were eating, Naminé glanced out the window and noticed four teens laughing and messing around on the beach. She recognized them as Sora, Roxas, Kairi, and Olette. Just then, Riku came out of the back of the restaurant to collect their dishes. Hayner followed him, carrying a bucket filled with water and a rag.

"Riku? Hayner?" Naminé exclaimed. "I didn't know you guys worked here."

The two boys looked at each other and grinned. "Yeah," Riku replied, scratching his head. "Kind of an extra source of income."

"Why would you need extra money? Don't your parents give you money?"

"Well, we kind of don't have parents. " Hayner replied.

"What?" asked Naminé, shocked.

"We live in a suite downtown with Axel, we being Kairi, Roxas, Sora, Hayner, Olette, and myself," explained Riku. "Our landlord charges us extra since more people live there."

"Oh, well, I'm sorry about your parents, guys."

Hayner grinned. "Hey, they're still out there somewhere. I'm sure they're fine."

Namine lifted a finger in the air. "Have you tried to find them?"

Hayner rubbed his chin. "Y'know, I haven't really thought about it." He snapped his fingers. "You know what? That's what I'll do this summer. Find my family."

Naminé smiled. "Good."

* * *

"Sponge."

"Here ya go!"

Kairi looked at the scrunchie she held in her hand and cocked an eyebrow at Sora. "This, my friend, is not a sponge."

Sora shrugged. "It's what I use for dishes…." Kairi smacked her forehead. "You're hopeless." She muttered.

"Am not!" Sora said. "I can take care of myself, thank you."

Kairi stopped conjuring up the sphere of water she had been creating to wash the dishes and walked over to the brunette. She placed her hands on his shoulders. "Sora," she began. "You are my friend. And as your friend, I am obligated to tell you the truth. And the truth is, that you would have killed yourself in three hours if someone like me wasn't watching out for you."

Sora grinned good naturedly. "That's cold, Kairi. Real cold." He patted his chest where his heart was. "Cut me deep. Well, have fun with the dishes!" He ran out of the room. Kairi just chuckled to herself at his goofiness and continued creating the sphere of water.

The door opened and Riku and Hayner trudged in, covered head to toe in water. Kairi immediately stopped them and pointed at the door. "Shoes." Grumbling, they both complied. The two boys immediately went to their rooms and changed. In a few minutes they returned. Riku crashed on the couch.

"Man, dishpit was awful tonight." He said.

"I know," replied Hayner from the chair he sat in. "If I see another piece of lasagna, I'm going to barf." Kairi held up a leftover piece of lasagna from dinner that night, and Hayner immediately ran for the bathroom. A few minutes later, he returned, wiping his mouth and glaring at Kairi. "That's cold, Kairi," he said, pointing at her. "Real cold."

The door slammed shut, announcing Axel's arrival. Hayner and Riku both held up their checks for him to take for the rent. He snagged them with a smirk on his face. "Did I ever tell you how much I love you guys?"

"Nope," came the reply.

"Well, I love you guys. Got it memorized?"

"Yep."

A knock sounded at the door. Axel immediately ran to his room and collected the remaining cash for the rent. He opened at the third knock. There stood a young women in her twenty's with semi long brunette hair, her right hand on her hip, her left stretched toward Axel. The redhead grinned.

"Miss Anna Ramirez. My, how lovely you look tonight. Is that a new haircut? It looks amazing."  
"Cut the crap, Ranier. Where's the rent?" Anna replied, her hand still outstretched.

Axel sighed and handed her the money. "One day you'll crack."

She grinned and patted his head. "You know you're my favorite patron."

"And you're my favorite landlord." He replied, grinning.

"Only because I'm the only landlord that will tolerate you."

"H-hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Axel shouted after her. Anna continued to laugh as she rounded the corner.

Axel shut the door and smirked. "Women. Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em.

* * *

Yeah nothing big here, just kind of a filler, but hey, whatever. This story is open to ideas. If you have an idea for a chapter, just let me know and we'll see what happens. Reviews are nice but not necessary.


	6. Revelation

6

* * *

The young man's shoes clicked against the tile floor as he walked to his destination. He turned a corner, climbed two flights of stairs, and walked through the door leading to the sixth floor.

_Twelfth door on the right, twelfth door on the right._

He found the door and stopped in front of it. He took a deep breath and knocked twice.

"Enter," came the reply. Jack Fredericks straightened his tie and entered Director Ansem McCarson's office. Ansem was a tall, aging man in his fifties who had somehow miraculously kept his blond shoulder length hair free of grey hairs. He stroked his blond goatee as he eyed the new recruit standing in front of him. "Ah, Mr. Fredericks." He gestured to an empty chair. "Have a seat."

The young man complied. He sat down quickly, and looked earnestly at his superior. "You wanted to see me, sir?"

Ansem nodded and rose from his desk chair. "You seem to be showing signs of promise, Mr. Fredericks."

Fredericks sighed in relief. "Thank you, sir."

Ansem walked over to the large window in his office. He stood there and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I'm even considering giving you a promotion." Fredericks smiled and was about to say something when Ansem held up a hand. "However, before I do, there is one more thing I need you to do for me and this company."

Fredericks stood. "Whatever Langley Science and Technology needs, I'll be happy to do."

Ansem nodded. "Good." He then circled in front of his desk and leaned against it. "I believe you already know the history of this company?"

"Yes sir. It was founded by Silas Langley, and started out as a medicine production plant and later started experimenting with new technologies while making their own technological products to aid the world."

"Correct. However, some of the projects that the company undertook were kept secret. The assignment that I am about to give you involves one of these projects. Have you ever heard of a man named Doctor Lance Kingsley?"

Fredericks nodded. "Yes sir, he was one of the best scientists around at Langley."

A dark gleam flashed in Ansem's eyes. "He was also one of the most stubborn, hard-headed men I've ever met." He walked back to the window, and then looked over his shoulder at the young man. "Kingsley was the head of a project titled Project APEX. He was told to stop operations when his subjects started to die from the experiments, but he didn't. He kept right on going, using the company's equipment and one of the company's quieter lab facilities." Ansem had a far off look in his eyes. "Eventually, the government caught wind of what was going on and sent the military to clean the place out." He sighed. "Langley was shut down for an entire year because of that fool." He turned around. "But now we know that some of his work has survived. We had collected the records some years back, however, we believe there are still some living subjects in the surrounding country." Ansem clenched his fist. "We need to get them back. You will be in charge of the task force assigned to capturing the specimens."

"Specimens, sir?" asked Fredericks.

Ansem snorted. "Well, they're certainly not human anymore. Not purely anyway."

"And what task force has been assigned to me?"

Ansem grinned. "REPO."

Fredericks gulped. The Reacquiring Escaped Patients and Organisms unit was one of the fiercest, darkest, deadliest task forces under Langley Science and Technology's command. He was going to lead them?

"What day will the operation begin, sir?"

Ansem flipped through his calendar and pointed at a date circled in red. "The fifth of November."

* * *

The months flew by, and suddenly, November was here. The last two months were a blast for Naminé as she made new friends and grew closer to the other six teens. The seven of them were almost inseparable now. Whenever Naminé went anywhere, she noticed that at least one of the girls and Roxas were nearby. She could understand having Kairi or Olette around, but what about Roxas? There was something different about him. Something she liked.

_Wait, did I just think that?_

"Naminé, can you help me get this letter to put on the wall? Sora said it was in our homeroom."

Naminé nodded and followed Kairi to room 108. It was homecoming week, and each class was making a float for the parade along with decorating the walls in the gym. Each class got a section of the wall and had to design it according to a theme. This year's theme was fast food. The sophomore class had already finished their float and was working on the wall part.

"Aww, he didn't say it was covered in duct tape!" Kairi whined. Naminé just sighed. "Well, we can get it, it will just be harder. I wonder why Sora didn't get it."

Naminé looked at Kairi, then at the letter, and then back at Kairi. "Kairi, the letter is seven feet long! It's going to take more than one person to get it."

A trickle of sweat ran down Kairi's forehead. "Oh, uh, right…. I knew that."

As they both grabbed the letter, Naminé watched Kairi. The redhead had sometimes said things like that and then acted weird afterwards. Naminé wondered if she could get it out of her.

"Kairi, remember that first day I was here and Riku threw that kid through the window?" she asked. Kairi chuckled nervously. "Yeah, that was crazy, wasn't it?"

"I'll say," Naminé replied, watching her friend carefully. "He must be pretty strong. And by the way, why did you think Sora could handle this by himself? Do you expect this type of stuff from him?"

Kairi said nothing.

When they got to the gym, Naminé saw Sora asleep on the bleachers. When they set the letter down at their table, Naminé pointed at him. "Why is Sora asleep? Come to think of it, he hasn't done a lick of work tonight. Doesn't he have a job to do?"

Kairi had made up in her mind by now what she was going to do. Naminé was going to find out one way or another, so it might as well be now. She placed her hand on Naminé's shoulder. "Stay here after nine tonight, and you'll find out."

* * *

Nine o'clock came around and Naminé could hear Sora talking with one of the class presidents. "Man, dude, I don't know how you put the wall up in one night, but we're counting on you to pull through."

Sora grinned. "No sweat! Just give me the plans and I'll do the work." The officer handed him a paper and slapped him on the back. "You're the best, dude!"

Everyone had left the gym except for Sora. Naminé slid behind some of the bleachers and watched the boy. Sora set up the paper on the projector screen and turned it on. The layout of the class wall shone on the wall.

Sora then stretched his hands out around him. Naminé almost cried out in alarm as the letters and designs around him started to float in the air. One by one, the boy set them in the desired spot. Five minutes later, he shut off the projector screen and stepped back to admire his work.

"Oh. My. Word." His head whipped around at the voice and saw Naminé standing there, mouth open. "I did not just see that happen."

_Aww, what the crud, no use hiding it, _he thought. "Actually, you did. However, there are no fireworks and ice cream." He shrugged. "Sorry."

Naminé walked up to him. "Do Roxas and the others know?"

Sora nodded, "Yep, they all know, seeing as how they're kinda like me."

"Wait," Naminé said, "You guys are all telekinetic?"

Sora laughed. "Oh, no. We're all special in our different ways."

Naminé grabbed him by the ear, causing him to yelp in pain, and dragged him to the door of the gym. "I think we all have to have a little talk."

* * *

Naminé sat on the clock tower at the train station, holding her knees to her chest. She'd just learned that her six best friends were freaks of nature. She could see Hayner and Riku throwing a football around in the open area outside of the train station. Olette was watching them, and Sora and Kairi were sitting on the steps to the station, talking. She wondered where Roxas was.

A blue Popsicle filled her field of vision. She looked up to see said blond standing there, holding one of the blue ice cream sticks in his other hand. She thanked him and took the ice cream. She studied it quizzically. "What's it taste like?" Roxas grinned. "You'll have to find out for yourself."

Naminé looked at him and then took a bite. Her face scrunched up at the salty taste, but then relaxed as the salty changed to sweet. "Mmm, what is this stuff?"

"Sea-salt ice cream," Roxas replied. "I'm glad you like it, because if you're going to keep hanging out with us, then you'll be eating it a lot."

"Why have I never had it before?" she asked.

"It's a Twilight Town exclusive," Roxas replied. "And you've never hung out with us when we went to get it."

Naminé frowned again and looked out at the setting sun. "So you guys are all freaks."

"Hey, no need for name-calling!" Roxas said, laughing.

"You know what I mean." Naminé replied. Roxas quit laughing and watched the sunset too. "We couldn't help it. We didn't choose to be this way."

Naminé looked at him. "Then how did you get this way?"

Roxas sighed. "Well, there was this thing called Project APEX. It stood for Altering Persons to Exhibit the eXtraordinaire." He looked at Namine. "The six of us came from different places, but we all had one thing in common: we didn't have parents anymore." Naminé gasped. "That's horrible! I'm so sorry!"

Roxas looked at the ground. "Don't be. It can't be helped."

"We were all alone," he continued. "Sora's parents and Kairi's parents both died in the same car accident and none of their relatives were found to be suitable guardians. Riku ran away from the foster home that his uncle put him in after his parents passed away. They found him in a rail yard, asleep in an old boxcar. Olette's parents died when their yacht sank in a storm, leaving her with her ailing grandmother who passed on a month later. Hayner's parents disappeared on a camping trip when he was still a baby, and his grandparents had no choice but to put him in an orphanage. And me, well, I'd lived on the streets my whole life. I don't know what happened to my parents." Naminé covered her mouth, but let him keep going.

"Three men in suits drove up to me in a white limousine. They told me I was going to help make the world a better place. Instead, they took me to that sorry excuse for a laboratory." Roxas sighed again. "But I can't fully be mad at them. That's where I met my best friends. We stuck together for all those long years that we were there getting poked with needles, shocked with probes, swallowing strange pills, everything. Then one day, some soldiers kicked down the door, arrested our so-called caretakers and that was the end of it. We met Axel the same day and he took us here. He was a former APEX patient. He can control fire."

Naminé snapped her fingers. "That's why his desk caught on fire on my first day!"

"Wait, his desk caught on fire?" Roxas asked. "Awesome! Did it burn to the ground?"

Naminé shook her head. "So what powers do you guys have?"

"Well, Riku's got pretty impressive strength and durability. Sora has power over air, so he can do things like those people in those sci-fi movies with the lightsabers?"

"Star Wars?" Naminé filled in. Roxas nodded. "That's the one."

"Kairi has control over water and any weather that includes it, which means that it actually snows every Christmas and rains every April fifth." Naminé giggled. "Olette is able to heal almost any injury, and Hayner has insane speed and intelligence."

"What about you?" Naminé asked.

"I'm like a prototype." Roxas replied. "I'm almost all of that put together and more. Enhanced strength and intelligence, a slight boost in speed, ability to create light, but very little control of the elements and no healing though."

"Wow," Naminé whispered. "Why didn't you guys tell me?"

"It's not entirely safe for us." Roxas explained. "The people in charge of APEX want to wipe all of its existence off of the records, including us." He sighed again, looking down.

Naminé tried to cheer him up. "I'm sure everything will be ok."

Roxas smiled at her and nodded.

Little did they know how wrong they both were.

* * *

Remember, remember the fifth of November. V for Vendetta, best line ever. Also, Star Wars belongs to George Lucas and his excellent team. Thank you for those movies as well. Any other references made to anything out there in real life, they don't belong to me. Reviews doth be appreciated, but as always, not required. It's still a free country, after all.


	7. The First Encounter

7

* * *

_November 4, 2010_

_Dear Diary,_

_I just found out that my best friends are even more amazing than I originally thought. What I'm about to write is almost too hard to believe, but… they have powers. Powers that no human being should ever have. However, it doesn't really matter to me if they're weird or unsafe or whatever. They're still my friends, and I'll stand by them forever._

_I had a talk with Roxas today. He told me about this project that made them special. He called it APEX. He also said that they weren't safe here, that the people who experimented on them are trying to get rid of him. I told him that everything would be ok, but for some reason, I have a feeling in the pit of my stomach that something bad is going to happen soon. Very soon._

_Oh, and I wonder if Roxas is related to Ven. They look almost exactly alike, it's not even funny. Well, it kind of is, but still, you know what I mean. I'll have to ask him sometime._

_- Naminé_

_

* * *

_

The stands were filled with cheering spectators as the fourth quarter was drawing to a close. There had been a good turnout for Homecoming, and the school had made a lot of money that night. Naminé sat in the upper deck with Olette and Roxas, enjoying the evening and the game. She turned her attention from the grinning Roxas back to the court. The Twilight Town Acadamy Paladins were down by two points against the Hollow Bastian Wolverines. The Paladins had the ball, and a boy named Chris was taking the ball down the court. He passed the ball to Bill, the leading scorer on the team. Bill went up for a shot, but he was stopped short by a tall guy on the other team who blocked the shot. There was only 20 seconds left on the clock, and the Paladins needed to get the ball back. The Paladin coach called for a timeout, and the gameplay paused for a little bit. Naminé turned to Roxas.

"Great game, huh?"she asked.

Roxas nodded. "Yeah, it's the best game I've seen in my entire life!"

"Why didn't you go out for basketball?" asked Naminé.

Roxas grinned. "Hey, just because we are superhumans doesn't mean that we're good at sports."

Namine giggled. The referee blew his whistle, and Naminé turned back to the game. Almost immediately, the Paladins stole the ball. They dribbled down the court and passed amongst themselves. They seemed to be unable to do anything but pass. Finally, with three seconds left on the clock. Chris chucked the ball out to the half court line where a short kid named Vince was standing. Vince took one look at the clock and shot the ball. It sailed through the air and landed cleanly in the hoop just before the buzzer went off. The crowd exploded into cheers and whoops as the lower deck of the stands stormed the court. Four of the players hoisted Vince up onto their shoulders and carried him out of the gym.

Naminé was jumping up and down, cheering. She turned and hugged Roxas, who immediately went stiff. She then realized what she was doing and quickly let go, blushing. Roxas looked at her and grinned.

* * *

Riku and Sora could hear the cheers and loud noises of celebration all the way to the football field. The two boys were setting up their "contraption", a five-barreled fireworks launcher that they had built with their bare hands.

"You really think this thing's gonna work?" Sora asked Riku, who was attaching the last launching tube to the base.

Riku nodded. "I think so. This is going to be the best After Party ever."

Sora looked back up at the stars and smiled. It was beautiful out here. He wished Kairi was with him right now. That would've been the only thing that would have made him happier.

Riku waved his hand in front of Sora's face, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Hey, are you going to help me with this, or be a lazy bum while I do all the work?"

Sora grinned and stood up. "Only Kairi can call me a lazy bum."

"Uh-huh."Riku smirked knowingly. "Well, if you could get the fireworks out of the trunk of my car, I would be very thankful."

Sora nodded and headed for the parking lot. This was going to be the best night of his life.

* * *

Jack Fredericks slipped the bulletproof vest on over his suit. He didn't know why he needed it. They were just kids after all.

Or did the REPO team have a really hard time from telling friend from foe? He doubted it.

He climbed into the back of the armored personal carrier that held REPO Team One, callsign Sigma. The Sigma team members were checking their gear and loading their weapons as the vehicles pulled out of the Langley parking lot. Teams Two and Three were right behind them.

"So this is a basic snatch n' grab, right, Boss?" the Sigma team leader, Sigma One, asked.

Fredericks nodded. "They want them alive, so I don't want any live rounds."

"You hear that, ladies? No live rounds!" shouted Sigma One over the radio. Multiple groans erupted as the men started pulling their magazines out of their weapons to switch the ammunition. Fredericks gulped. These guys were downright ruthless.

* * *

Namine chatted with Olette as they walked out of the school building, Roxas following them from behind. They had just made it to the edge of the front lawn to join the rest of the crowd when they heard an explosion overhead. Naminé looked up and saw the splash of color of the fireworks. The crowd burst into cheers as more fireworks exploded.

Roxas stood beside Naminé and watched the fireworks. After several minutes, Naminé jumped slightly as she felt a hand gently grab hers. She turned and blushed when she saw that it was Roxas. The blond boy looked at her and smiled. Naminé smiled back, and they both turned their eyes skyward as the fireworks continued to explode in flashes of different colors of light.

After the fireworks ended, Roxas let go of her hand and just stood there. He then became aware of the rumbling of engines and turned towards the road. He noticed three large vans rolling down the driveway. The parking lot lights reflected off of the letters on the sides of the vans. His heart stopped.

L.S.T.

He immediately dug into his pocket and fished around for his cell phone. His hands trembled as he dialed Riku's number. It rang twice before the silver head answered. _"Hello?"_

"They've found us."

Riku instantly understood what he meant. "_Crap. Be right there. Get those people out of there, Roxas."_

Roxas nodded. "I will." He hung up and put his phone away. He looked back at the parking lot and saw that the doors on the vans were open, and the soldiers were already headed towards their position. He was about to yell when he saw a few of the men throw some small tube-like objects towards the crowd. They landed in the grass. The tops of the grenades blew off, and a white, smoke-like substance started wafting through the air.

The crowd immediately reacted to the tear gas, running around in panic and confusion and screaming in fear. Roxas immediately cupped his hand over Naminé's mouth and nose and quickly led her inside the school, fighting back the tears as he went. When they got inside, he sat her down on a chair in the lobby. "Stay here,"he said. "And whatever happens, don't come outside." He then ran out the front doors, leaving Naminé staring after him, worried.

The mayhem was still going on. The crowd had mostly dispersed and was pouring into the building. Roxas saw Riku and Sora running toward him. He also saw Olette and Kairi heading towards the school building. Just before the two boys met up with him, a loud boom and a bright light filled his vision. Roxas instantly dropped to his knees, clutching his ears and squeezing his eyes shut. When the ringing in his ears stopped, he opened his eyes to see a soldier running towards him. Fire licked at his fingertips, and his hand connected with the man's unprotected upper torso. The man dropped to the ground, howling in pain. Roxas turned around and dodged a punch from charging gunman. He launched out at the man's back, sending him sprawling onto the hard sidewalk.

A small blue energy ball soared by his face. He saw several gunmen shooting at him, the stun bullets flying around him and leaving singe marks on the structures behind him. He turned and started running towards the school courtyard where Sora was launching the enemy back with his air manipulation. He ducked as a guy was sent flying over his head and slid behind a low wall next to Sora.

"Where's Riku?"He yelled. Roxas turned and gasped as he saw a couple of the soldiers run into the builing. Several seconds later, three of the men were thrown back through the doorway that they had entered. Roxas looked back at Sora. "I'm guessing he's inside!" he yelled to the brown haired boy. The brunette nodded and sent another guy flying into a tree, knocking him unconscious.

Hayner came flying out of the gym and slid to a stop next to Sora. "What'd I miss?"

Roxas pointed at the school. "There's at least a five hundred people in there, there's at least sixty guys out here, and the six of us have to get out of here!"

Hayner nodded. "I'm on it!" He dashed out at lightning fast speed. A few of the soldiers started firing after Hayner, but the blond was too quick for them. Roxas was busy watching the spectacle when a blur of black shot past him, soared over the low wall, and headed right for the soldiers. The lights glanced off of the humongous blade that the figure held in his hands. The soldiers noticed him too late as the black-haired swordsman started slashing through the lines, incapacitating two to three men per swipe.

Roxas could faintly hear over the gunfire a man shouting "Reinforcements! Reinforcements now!"

* * *

"_Reinforcements! Reinforcements now!"_

Fredericks switched the channel on the radio. He clicked it on. "HQ, this is Fredericks. Need backup at TTA, over."

There was silence for a few seconds. Then the radio crackled to life. _"Copy that. Sigma's Five, Six, Seven, and Eight are en route. E.T.A. is seven minutes."_

"Roger that, Fredericks out." He set the radio back on the console and sighed. _All this for six kids. Crazy stuff._

_

* * *

_

Riku finished off the rest of the men inside. He ran out, barring the doors before he left, and joined up with Roxas and Sora. He recognized the sophomore history teacher running around among the enemy with an object in his hands. He crouched next to Roxas, who was watching him in amazement.

"He's insane!" shouted Riku.

"He's incredible!" replied Roxas.

Riku noticed that object in his hands was a sword. He too began to see how skilled the man was with the weapon as the history teacher, Zack Fair, continued to slice his way through the men.

The one man onslaught was too much. "FALL BACK!" shouted a man who appeared to be a commander. "FALL BACK!" The lines of soldiers immediately retreated to a safer position, leaving the groaning injured men behind. Zack appeared a bit winded, but not much, and immediately started pursuing them.

"Forget the kids! Get that guy!" the commander shouted. The gunmen opened fire. Zack slowed down and slashed through the bolts, blocking them when possible. All of a sudden, his guard dropped and he grunted in pain as a stray bolt hit him in the leg. It was all the REPO division needed. Just as the reinforcements arrived, the remaining men opened fire on the unprotected one man army. Zack yelled in pain as the blasts pelted him repeatedly, causing him to fall to the ground, stunned.

"NO!" Naminé yelled. She had exited the building to check on her friends and saw her surrogate uncle fall. She started running toward the sight, but Roxas grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back. "They'll get you too!" he shouted. Naminé looked at her friend, then back at Zack, tears in her eyes. Roxas grabbed her arm. "We have to get out of here!"

Sora, Riku, Roxas, Naminé, and Hayner, who had just gotten away from his pursuers, headed one of the buses that had been pulled up to get the people away from the school. They hopped on the last bus and rode it to safety. Roxas held Naminé as she cried. He looked up to see Olette and Kairi head back to where Sora and Riku were sitting. He looked back at the mourning blond. There was nothing he could say. He could only comfort her, nothing more.

* * *

Zack's vision blurred as he looked around at the soldiers standing around him. He tried to clear his vision by blinking his eyes, but to no avail. The leader of one of the teams walked up. He looked at Zack, then keyed his comms link. "HQ, this is Sigma One. We couldn't get the kids," he hesitated. "but we've got a familiar face here. One of those Shinra freaks from the lab raid two years ago." There was silence, and then the man nodded. "Roger that. Sigma One, out." He turned the comms link off, and then kicked Zack in the ribs. Zack grimaced in pain. Sigma One grabbed him by the collar and hoisted him up. Zack couldn't stand on his numb legs and dropped to his knees. Sigma One grabbed the top of his head and forced Zack to look him in the eye. "All right, Hero." He sneered. "You're going to come with us to make the world a better place!" The soldiers started laughing as two of the men grabbed Zack's arms and dragged him toward the open doors on the back of the van.

* * *

There's some action for ya. Hopefully, it doesn't make anybody mad or anything. Reviews: appreciated but not necessary as always.


	8. Memories and Rescue

8

* * *

"Why?" Naminé sniffed. "Why did they take him?"

Roxas paced back and forth across the living room carpet as Sora replied, "I'm sure there's a reason."

"He used to be Shinra." Axel murmured. Roxas stopped pacing and everyone looked at Axel. Axel's eyes were burning holes in the carpet – literally, but no one bothered to stop the fire wielder. Everyone's minds were on the events that had just happened two hours prior.

"So?" Olette said.

"So," Axel began. "He was one of the Shinra contractors that helped with the Langley raid. Besides the fact that he was hacking their troops to shreds, my only guess would be revenge."

Naminé wiped the tears from her eyes. "How would they remember him?"

Axel stepped away from the wall he was leaning on. "When something like the Langley raid happens, other people get hurt. Many Langley employees lost their jobs and were unemployed a whole year, some two." He looked at Naminé. "That's a long time." He leaned back against the wall and stared at the floor again. "People tend to seek out a person involved and blame them. Odds are, Zack's not the only one that they want to take their anger out on."

"And rage would really drive someone to do something so awful to another person? Do they even realize what goes on in that company?" Kairi exclaimed.

Axel glanced at her. "Yes and no. They know that the company works on secret projects like APEX, but they don't know to what extent. They view the raid as some government punishment on them for their "advancements in science." Axel placed a hand on Naminé's shoulder. "It's understandable to be mad at circumstances when you don't know the real reason why something is happening." Naminé glared at her shoes. "However, it's important to keep an open mind and realize that what you think is true, might not actually be the truth at all."

"So, how does one keep an open mind?" Hayner asked.

"By simply allowing your brain to take all possible factors of a situation into consideration," answered Axel.

"I hate to break up this discussion and everything," Riku interrupted. "But what are we going to do about Zack? I see this as a hostage situation. We've got to get him out of there."

"Can't we get Shinra to help on this one?" Sora asked.

Axel shook his head. "Shinra may have a private military, but it still has ties to the government. We can't just go kicking down doors yelling orders and expect everything to be fine just because we're Shinra. If they do help us, they'll need a warrant, and that could take weeks." Axel looked down. "By then who knows what they will have done to him."

"Wait, you guys work for Shinra?" Naminé asked. Sora nodded. "Why doesn't anyone tell me this stuff?"

Riku ignored her. "Can't we get a helicopter or something? I thought we had one on reserve at all times?"

"Can you fly a bird?" Axel asked.

Everyone was silent until Olette piped up. "Actually, I've been learning in my spare time. I could fly us there."

"Okay," Axel said. "But no one ever said anything about breaking into Langley."

"It didn't need to be said," Roxas said quietly. "It was implied." He opened a closet door and pulled out a long black hooded jacket. He put it on, zipped it up, and pulled the hood over his head. He looked back as he reached the door. "We're going to bust him out."

* * *

_Light. All he could see was light._

_He sat up and looked around. He realized he was in a field of yellow flowers. He stood up and inhaled the fresh fragrance. How long had it been since he had been near flowers like these. Yellow were his favorite flowers. They reminded him of the ones she used to grow back in Midgar._

"_Helloooooooo!"_

_He spun around looking for the source of the voice. He started walking in the direction that he thought he heard it come from._

"_Helloooooo?"_

_Suddenly, a sharp pain exploded into his forehead. He fell to his knees gripping his skull as images and memories flashed before his mind's eye at a thousand miles an hour. He heard only one more thing before everything went white._

"_Helloooooooooooooooooooo?"_

_

* * *

_

"Helloooooo? C'mon Hero, time to get up! Wakey-wakey!"

Zack slowly opened his eyes and saw Sigma One grinning down at him behind the electronic facemask that covered his eyes.

_Where am I?_

Everything suddenly came back to him, Homecoming, the attack, and his capture. He tried to launch out at the man, but found himself strapped down to the bed at his wrists and ankles. Sigma One laughed. It was a harsh, brutal sound.

"You better sit tight, dude," he grabbed Zack's throat. "If you know what's good for you." He pushed Zack back down on the experimenting table bed. A door on the right wall slid open and a man with shoulder length blond hair entered the room, followed by two scientists in lab coats.

"Ah, good. You are awake," the deep bass voice rumbled smoothly. He walked over to the side of the bed and looked at Zack, a glow in his eyes. Zack returned the stare with a malicious one. Ansem walked to the other side of the room. "It's been quite a while, Mr. Fair, since you've had any contact with us. Two years to be exact."

"I don't know what you are talking about!" Zack spat. Ansem chuckled darkly. "Oh, I think you do. It can't be too hard to remember the raid." Zack's eyes widened. He finally realized where he was. "You and your soldier friends took something very important to me." Zack's eyes followed the man as he walked around the room. Ansem finally stopped beside the bed and looked Zack square in the eye. "I want them back."

Zack instantly realized what Ansem was talking about. He remembered the blond boy and his friends. He knew they were experiments. He knew they were special.

"Well, good luck getting them. I don't know what happened to them, so don't even bother questioning me." Ansem laughed again. "Then you must be blind, since you saw two of them at that restaurant you went to a while back." The memory flashed into Zack's mind, and he understood why the busboys looked familiar. His eyes widened. _They're here._

Ansem smirked evilly. "We know where they are, Mr. Fair. It's only a matter of time."He stood up straight and turned around. "Since you're here, we might as well try an experiment. We're going to break you," He looked over his shoulder, "with your memories."

Zack gasped. The men started to attach the head piece to his skull. "No!" He cried. "This is inhumane!" A scientist grabbed his arm and lifted a needle attached to a tube. He grabbed some of the skin and readied the needle. "No!" Zack cried again.

The man slid the needle into his arm, and everything started to go black.

"Noooooooooooo!"

* * *

_Zack stepped out of the armored personnel carrier and headed towards the main camp. A man with a black ponytail turned around and waved to him. Zack returned the gesture and jogged to meet him. The two exchanged a fist pound._

"_Braig!" Zack grinned. "How are you doing, man?"_

_Braig grinned back. "Never been better. You ready for today?"_

"_Oh yeah! The war ends today, buddy!"Zack shouted. Braig laughed as the two SOLDIER operatives headed for the briefing room._

_The scene changed to the battlefield. Zack had just finished off a Wutai troop and looked over to see Braig running towards the central building in the fortress, a bomb in his hands. Zack instantly sprinted towards his friend. He jumped through a window and saw Braig setting up the bomb. Braig looked at him, then jerked his head toward a rack of staff rifles. Zack nodded and sheathed his sword. He grabbed one of the staffs and flipped it around. The barrel of the gun glistened in the torchlight. Zack knelt and took up a ready position._

_Twelve seconds later, the door to the building burst open. Zack opened fire, instantly dropping two of the Wutai troops. He then put a bullet in the head of a third._

"_Got it!"Braig yelled. He whipped out two submachine guns and downed the rest of the Wutai soldiers. Both of the men ran out of the building and took cover behind a stone wall._

"_Command, this is Braig. I'm here with Zack, and the bomb is in place and ready to go. Detonation's in two minutes."_

"_Roger that. We're pulling everyone back. I suggest you two get your butts back here in one piece in five minutes."_

_Braig chuckled. "Understood, Command. Braig out."_

_He turned off the radio and sat down next to his partner. The two men waited._

_And waited._

_And waited._

_Zack checked his phone's clock. "It's been two minutes. Something's wrong with the bomb."_

"_I'll go check it out." Braig said as he stood up. Zack grabbed his arm and Braig looked back at him. "Be careful, buddy." Zack said. Braig nodded and drew both of his guns. He approached the building slowly. He peaked through a window and saw some Wutai troops trying to disarm the bomb. Braig cocked both the guns and unloaded through the window, dropping all the guys inside in about two seconds. He then jumped in and started working on the bomb. Sweat trickled down his forehead._

_He reattached the last wire and the clock came on. "Got it!" Then he noticed the clock. Six seconds. Five._

"_OH CRAP!" Braig sprinted straight for the exit and was thrown through the door as the bomb went off._

"_BRAAAAAIIIG!" Zack yelled and ran toward his fallen friend. Braig twisted onto his stomach and tried to crawl. He looked up at Zack. Blood was streaming down his chin and neck from a cut down the left side of his face. A piece of shrapnel was lodged in his right eye. Zack almost gagged._

_Zack's radio buzzed to life. "Zack, this is Command! Get your butt back here now!"_

"_We've got a man down!" Zack shouted back. "Braig's hurt bad!"_

"_Don't worry about him! We'll send an evac team for him later. Right now you need to get back here ASAP. Do you understand?"_

_Zack sighed in defeat. "Yes sir. Zack out." He then looked at his partner. "Help's on the way man! Just sit tight! I gotta go!" Braig just blinked his good eye and kept trying to crawl. He watched his friend disappear into the forest._

_

* * *

_

Zack's eyes shot open. He couldn't wipe the tears from his eyes, but he knew how the story ended and he deserved every bit of emotional trauma because of it.

"I could've saved him," he mumbled, tears streaking down his face. "I could've saved him."

"Yes," Ansem said softly. "You could've saved him." He leaned closer to Zack. "But you didn't."

"I was following orders!" Zack shouted.

"Is pleasing someone else more important to you than a human life?" Ansem asked.

"No!" Zack shouted. "Never! I would give up anything to save the people I care about!"

"So why didn't you?" Ansem asked.

Zack sniffed. "I was young and foolish. I've learned from my mistakes."

Ansem nodded. "Well, then you may find comfort to know that Braig was not lost."

Zack tried to sit up, but couldn't due to the restraints. "He's alive? Where is he!" he shouted.

Ansem nodded to Sigma One. The man reached up and pulled off his helmet. Zack gasped.

There stood a man with a black ponytail, which now had grey streaks in it. He had an eye patch over his right eye and a scar running down the left side of his face. The stern look earlier had been replaced by a menacing grin. "Surprise, Hero!"

Zack stared at his old partner, dumbfounded. The man laughed. "Talk about a blast from the past, huh?"

"Braig-" Zack whispered.

"Not anymore," he replied. "I'm Xigbar now. Just like you, I've left my old life."

"How did you survive? The evac team said that you weren't there when they got there."

Xigbar spat, then grinned at the ex-SOLDIER turned history teacher. "Well, let me tell you how the story really ended.

* * *

_Braig coughed up more blood as six Wutai troops circled him. The leader walked up to him and kicked him in the gut, causing more blood to spew from his mouth. The leader turned to another man who appeared to be an officer of some sort and said something to him in a foreign language that Braig couldn't understand. One of the soldiers stepped up to him. Braig looked defiantly at the muzzle pointed to his skull. The man aimed down the sights._

_A boom sounded in the distance, and the soldier's chest exploded in a fountain of blood as he was thrown back six feet. The other soldiers started looking around, weapons at the ready when another grunt fell to his knees, gripping his throat before falling face down on the ground. Heavily armored soldiers started bursting from the cover that the trees provided and surrounded them. A commander stepped out and walked towards Braig. He examined the fallen SOLDIER, then looked at where the other men had lined up the Wutai troops. "Get rid of them. We don't take prisoners." Braig closed his eye and tried to drown out the gunfire. The commander leaned down and mumbled in his ear, "Don't worry. We'll get you out of here, fix you up good." He grinned at Braig. "But you'll be working for us now." Braig could hear a helicopter hovering above him. He looked up and managed to see three letters before everything went black and he slipped into unconsciousness._

_L.S.T._

_

* * *

_

"You see, Zack," Ansem said. "Shinra isn't the only company with a private military."

"They made me better, Zack." Xigbar said, grinning. "They made me stronger than I ever could've imagined, smarter than I could've ever been, and more resilient to any pain or injury that I could receive. Of course, that did come with a price. I mean, the experiments were brutal, and caused a little bit of degradation." He pointed to the grey streaks in his hair."But it paid off in the end." Zack could only shake his head, his forehead creased in grief and pain. His partner had been taken by these monsters and he viewed them as heroes. They had done terrible things to him, and he seemed to enjoy it.

"They've made you a monster, man." Zack mumbled. Xigbar just laughed again. It was cruel sounding.

"Now then," Ansem said, turning back to Zack. "I've decided to make you an offer. You can join us and become like Xigbar here, stronger, smarter, more durable, or, you can be our guinea pig for the rest of your life. If you're the least bit intelligent, you will pick the first option."

"I'll never join you!" Zack spat.

"Very well, then. Let stupidity blind you." Ansem replied. "Guinea pig it is." He nodded to one of the scientists who stood off to the side. The man nodded and grabbed a syringe filled with a purple liquid. Zack started squirming, trying to get out of the bonds, but to no avail. The scientist approached the helpless man.

Suddenly, the door on the right wall blew off and was sent flying into the room while part of the left wall exploded at the same time. The room was filled with a flash of light. Two hooded figures jumped through the entryways. Before Xigbar could even draw his pistols from their holsters, a blast of air had sent him flying into some machinery in the corner of the room. He hit his head on the wall hard, knocking him unconscious. Ansem found himself surrounded by a ring of fire. He glared at the hooded phantom that had created the fire. The scientists had fled as soon as there was an opportunity for escape.

One of the hooded figures started to undo the bonds. "We're getting you out of here."

Zack massaged his wrists as soon as the clamps were undone. "Who are you?"

The figure looked at him. "Friends." With that, he freed Zack's ankles, helped him stand, and led him to the roof of the building where a helicopter was waiting for them. After they had taken off, the figures lowered their hoods. Two boys, one with blond spiky hair, the other a spiky brunette stood before him. He immediately recognized the blond one. "It's you," he breathed.

Roxas nodded. "We're taking you somewhere safe." He grinned at Zack. "Naminé's waiting for you."

* * *

'Tis done. Reviews are nice, but not required, but if you want to, please let me know what you think of it.


	9. The Thirteenth Order

9

* * *

"Get those rooms secured, I need a head count on the subjects now!" Ansem shouted to the various soldiers dashing through the halls of Langley. Not even five minutes had passed since the break in and they were in no way making any progress… yet. Ansem grunted as some soldiers brushed passed him rather roughly. He spied an assault team sitting in a waiting area and waved the sergeant of the group over. The sergeant immediately jogged to the older man. "Orders, Sir?"

Ansem nodded and pointed to the stairwell. "I need you and your team to secure Patients 607 to 814. They should be on the fifth floor." The sergeant nodded and turned to his team. "All right, Delta two, we are Oscar Mike! Targets are on the fifth floor, let's go!" The men all stood up and headed for the stairs.

Jack Fredericks was jogging down the hallway, dodging the incoming traffic when he spotted Ansem. He slowed to a brisk walk to keep pace with the older man as he headed for a different wing of the building. "Director, I hate to question your actions, but why are we doing a complete lockdown and checking every floor when we already know that the intruders only took the SOLDIER?"

"Ex-SOLDIER," Ansem clarified, "and it is protocol, my boy. Besides, we have no idea as of yet how those filth got in or where they have been while they were inside. They could have freed the specimens in the entire upper levels and we wouldn't know it." He then sent a chilling glare at the young man, causing him to shiver. "Our security cameras were down during the attack."

Fredericks gulped. "I know, sir, and I know that I was in charge of that, but I can assure you, what happened today with the security here will never happen again."

Ansem stopped. "You'd better live up to that statement, Mr. Fredericks, or being fired will be the least of your worries." With those parting words, Ansem McCarson preceded through two double doors that led to the Scientists' Quarters. Fredericks felt a sudden urge to vomit and headed for the nearest bathroom.

* * *

"Well, I can see that you have a handle on things in this area, Miss Martinez," Ansem said, smiling at the middle-aged Hispanic woman. "But before I leave, may I ask one more question?"

Raquel Martinez nodded. "Of course, Director. What is on your mind?"

Ansem leaned forward in the chair that he was sitting in. "How has 648's progress been lately?"

Martinez sighed. "Slow, but better. He has finally come to grips that he is no longer who he once thought he was. The information that we are giving to him seems to be taking root. So far, he has denied that he ever had a family, that his brother and two sisters were killed in a freak accident at an amusement park, and that he dropped out of high school at seventeen." The woman closed the folder and set it back in its rightful place before picking up another. "However, compared to 647's progression rate, we had achieved the same type of results in about eight days. It has taken 648 nearly an entire month."

Ansem stood and placed a hand on the scientist's shoulder and smiled. "Don't worry. At least we are getting somewhere." With that, he left the room, and headed to check on his most prized employees.

The door slid open to reveal a rather extensive laboratory. Just as he had suspected, two of his most promising apprentices were working on an experiment. Xehanort was apparently examining the foreign substance on the table in front of him while Even stood behind a desk, recording the information that Xehanort was relaying to him.

Xehanort ran his fingers over the slimy green substance. He then sprinkled some particles on the end. The tail of the jelly squirmed, turning purple in the process. Xehanort smiled slightly. "Subject appears to react to trace amounts of Americium dioxide."

"Fascinating," Even said quietly, typing in the data that he had just received.

Ansem looked over at two guards flanking a door in the back of the room. He nodded at them. The two guards, Aeleus and Dilan, bowed slightly to the director, their expressions never changing, causing Ansem to smirk.

Suddenly, the strange organism in front of Xehanort started to twitch uncontrollably. Xehanort's smile quickly turned to a frown as the purple end of the slime turned grey. The grey spread all the way down the slime until it reached the front. The organism stopped twitching and was perfectly still. Xehanort looked up at Even, who was still typing away. "Correction. Trace amounts of Americium dioxide-"

"Have devastating effects on the specimen, I'm way ahead of you, Xehanort." Even said. Xehanort just grunted in response.

Ansem took this opportunity to step in. "Failure is not defeat, Xehanort," Xehanort forced a slight smile at his master. "It only narrows the path to the correct answer." Ansem stood beside the younger gray-haired man. He placed a hand on Xehanort's shoulder. His smile faded. "No doubt you all have heard about the break-in."

Even nodded gravely. "Yes, Master. It is a terrible shame that our defenses were compromised so easily." He shook his head.

"Are all the subjects accounted for, Master Ansem?" Xehanort asked.

"Not quite, but almost." Ansem replied. "I just stopped by to see how you all have been progressing as of late. I'm heading to the lower levels after this." A door slid open in the back of the room, and Ienzo, the youngest of the group, entered the room, wiping his hands on a hand towel. Ansem nodded to the bluish-haired man, who returned the gesture. It was then that Ansem noticed a blue light flashing periodically in the room that Ienzo just left.

"What's going on in the back room?" He asked.

Xehanort smiled. "That is our latest discovery. Right this way." He walked back to the room and entered through the door. Ansem followed.

Inside were several pieces of equipment. Four ray emitters were pointed directly at a glass case. Inside the case was something flat and black. Ansem approached the case and peered in at the substance. "Well?" He looked back over his shoulder at Xehanort. "What is it?"

Xehanort continued to smile. "This, Master, is the future of our military power. A new creature that will aid in the capturing and repossessing of experiments." Ansem jumped back slightly as the black mass rose from the ground. It materialized into a small black creature with yellow eyes and two antennae. It's little black claws immediately started scratching the glass in the spot where Ansem stared at it.

"What is that thing?" he whispered to himself.

"Master, allow me to introduce you to this wonderment of science: the Heartless."

Ansem remained silent. "Heartless?" he mumbled. Xehanort nodded. "Yes. It is made of pure darkness. It lacks a heart, which drives it to attack other living organisms that possess a heart. This one is a prototype, and we're working out the kinks right now. With your permission, I would like to continue with the experiments."

"No."

Xehanort was shocked. "What?"

"I said no!" Ansem slammed a fist on a table in the room. He walked up to Xehanort and looked him square in the eye. "If one of those things got loose, do you realize the impact it would have on society? It would go on a rampage, slaughtering every person it came across! Hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent lives would be at stake! It's simply too dangerous."

Xehanort didn't back down. "I don't think you're in a position to tell me no, Master."

Ansem's eyes widened. "Are you defying my authority, Xehanort?"

"You're smart, figure it out yourself, "Master"."

Ansem's face grew red. "Very well. You've left me no choice. If you will not obey me, then I will have to put you in solitary confinement." Ansem looked past Xehanort's shoulder and saw Xigbar talking to Dilan and Aeleus. "Xigbar!" The one-eyed soldier looked at him and walked up to Ansem. "What's up, Boss?"

"Arrest Xehanort and take him to solitary confinement." Xigbar stayed by Ansem's side. He drew his sidearm and held it at his side. Ansem turned to him, fire in his eyes. "That is an order, Xigbar! Arrest him at once!" He returned his gaze to Xehanort, who stared defiantly back at him. Suddenly, he felt cold metal pressed against his head. He slowly turned his head to see Xigbar holding his pistol to Ansem's head. He smirked. "No can do, Boss."

Anger flaired in Ansem's eyes. "What is the meaning of this treachery? Xigbar, stand down!"

Xehanort placed a hand on Ansem's shoulder and leaned toward his right ear. "You aren't in charge anymore, Ansem." He stood in front of Ansem and spread his arms. "I thought you would have realized it by now. "

"The others won't stand for this!" Ansem shouted. Xehanort laughed

"On the contrary, the "others" are behind me. They've been behind me since the very beginning." Xigbar kicked Ansem in the back of his knee joints, causing him to fall to his knees. Xehanort kneeled in front of him, locked his gaze with Ansem's. "We've been planning this day for a long time, in case you ever decided to go against our wishes. Up until now, you've cooperated splendidly." He stood to his feet.

"You may think that the others will follow you, but you're a fool! They know that you will lead them down a path that will only end in destruction! Bring them in and let them speak for themselves!"

Xehanort nodded to Xigbar. Suddenly, Xigbar disappeared, only to reappear on the other side of the room. At the same time, vines shot out of the floor, trapping Ansem where he sat. The vines also wrapped around his wrists, preventing him from moving his hands. Ansem looked up at Xehanort, and his heart stopped.

Xehanort's yellow eyes were glowing.

Xigbar hit the button that activated the lab door, and the five other members of Xehanorts coup filtered into the room. Ansem's fear returned to its previous state of rage. "What type of sorcery is this, Xehanort?"

Xehanort smiled darkly. "Not sorcery, old man." He walked over to a desk in the corner of the room. "While we were creating and experimenting with the Heartless, we came across some interesting data. A behind-the-scenes project, discontinued two years ago." He held up a file. Ansem's eyes widened.

PROJECT APEX.

"You didn't…" Ansem whispered.

"Ah, but we did." He walked across the room to stand by his peers. "We all partook of this wonder of science. Each of us received a special ability, and so, to coincide with our new lives, most of us have taken on new names." He nodded to the other ten people who stood in the room.

"Xigbar: space"

"Xaldin: wind."

"Vexen: ice."

"Lexaeus: earth."

"Zexion: illusions."

"Saix: rage."

"Demyx: water."

"Luxord: time."

"Marluxia: plants."

"Larxene: lightning."

"And I am Xehanort, commander of nothing."

"Nothing?" Ansem asked. "You have no power."

Xehanort chuckled. He stretched out his hand. The air in front of Ansem rippled, then split open, revealing nothing but a swirling dark abyss.

"Nothing: the area between the plane of existence and the plane of nonexistence. An endless sea of darkness." His eyes glowed brighter for a brief second, and his smile grew. "An endless supply of heartless." Xehanort stood in front of his companions. "Our numbers are not complete. We still are in need of two vital members."

"Who?"

"Two former APEX experiments, given the names Axel and Roxas. With their addition, we will become The Thirteenth Order." Xehanort kneeled in front of Ansem, the glow in his eyes never wavering. "And here is where I make you an offer. You will either be forced to work under us and stay in confinement, or you will become a test subject. It isn't a hard choice." He stood up. "Ease, or pain? Human, or not?" He looked over his shoulder at the older man chained to the floor by vines. "Life, or death?" He paced in front of the ex-director. "If I were you, I'd take what remainder of a life you would have and serve us. But it's still your choice. What will it be, old man?"

Ansem remained silent before lowering his head and sighing in defeat. "Life," he mumbled.

"What was that?" Xehanort mocked.

"I said life!" Ansem shouted. Xehanort smiled.

"Smart move." He motioned to Lexaeus and Xaldin. "Take him to solitary confinement. We'll get him when we need him." The two burly men nodded. Marluxia dismissed the vines while Xaldin and Lexaeus each grabbed Ansem's arms. As Ansem was dragged out of the laboratory, he looked back at the greatest minds at Langley who were watching him. He caught Xehanort's eye, saw the smirk of triumph, the look of victory written on his face.

_He always was arrogant, _Ansem thought to himself.

The door slid shut behind him, symbolizing the end of his career, and the end of life as he knew it.

* * *

I haven't updated in forever, and I don't really have an excuse. My apologies. As always, reviews are awesome, but not required. Let me know if there's anything I can improve on, if I need to change my writing style, if the story is inching closer to the toilet, et cetera. Happy belated Thanksgiving, everybody!


	10. A New Ally

10

* * *

The safe house was actually a large suite in another apartment building in downtown Radiant Garden. Though maybe not the ideal choice of places to hide out, it was one of their last options.

"I still don't like sticking so close to Langley." Riku said. "It's too risky."

Axel grinned. "Well, as they always say: sometimes the best hiding spots are right under your enemy's nose." He walked over and examined an old painting on the wall. "Besides, it's not like we had much of a choice anyway."

"What's up with you and large apartments?" Sora asked. He and Kairi were sitting on a sofa, except that Sora's feet rested over the back and his head touched the carpet. It failed to mess up his spikes though.

Axel looked at him. "I could've gotten a one-room in the slums and made you sleep on a broken cot with the rats, how about that?" Sora looked up (or down in the other's perspective) thoughtfully. "Well, when you put it that way…"

Zack looked up from polishing the Buster Sword, agitation clearly written on his face. "So that's it? We just sit around and wait?" Axel nodded. "Kinda looks like that, doesn't it?"

Zack stood up. "Wait for what?" he said. "For them to come get us and turn us into their dirty lab rats? For some miracle to come floating down out of the sky? We have to act now while they're regrouping."

Axel held up a hand. "I know you're anxious, man, but you're going to have to trust me. If we lay low for a while and let the heat die down, we've got a better chance of getting out of here unnoticed."

"And how long will that take?" asked Kairi.

Axel shrugged. "I don't know. Two, maybe three weeks?" A groan emanated from the others in the room.

Olette stood and stretched. "Well, I'm going out to get some fresh air."

"Hold up," Hayner said. "Are you sure that's a good idea?" Olette smiled. She always thought it was kind of cute how Hayner always worried about her. "The sun's going down, I'll be fine," she said. "Do you guys want anything while I'm out?"

"Slurpees," came the response. Olette giggled. "I should've seen that coming. I'll be back in about an hour." She turned and headed for the door. Before she reached the handle, a hand held the door shut. She looked into Hayner's concerned chestnut brown eyes. "Be careful out there, ok?" Olette smiled, leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. "I will. I promise." She opened the door and left Hayner standing there, watching her leave, a hand to his cheek were her lips had touched his skin. He sighed and shut the door.

* * *

"Have a good evening!" the shopkeeper called after her.

"Thanks, you too!" Olette shouted back. She started down Rose Boulevard and headed for the center of town, carrying her friends' frozen drinks back to the hideout. She breathed in the fresh scent of flowers drifting on the breeze. She enjoyed admiring the many flowerbeds in the city as she walked. It brought life and color to the major bustling city. She really didn't mind it here. _I hope I come back here after this is all over._

A horn snapped her out of her thoughts, and she was able to jump back just in time as a cab sped past her. She shook her head. _Maybe not._ She continued retracing her steps until she saw the alley that led to their apartment. It was getting dark.

As she headed into the alley, she thought she heard movement. She whipped around, eyes darting back and forth. Nothing.

_Must've just been a cat or something._

She continued on her way. Eventually she came to an intersection of alleys. It went downhill from there.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here, boys?" Olette turned around. A young man strolled out of the shadows, a menacing grin on his face. She glanced down the other alleys, only to see three other men walking towards her.

The man walked up to her and grabbed her chin. "What's a pretty little thing doing out here all by your lonesome at this time of day?" Olette gulped. "I'm… just heading home." She looked at her watch. "And I'm late, so if you'll excuse me." She pulled away from his grasp only to be stopped by one of the thugs. He walked towards her, causing her to step backwards. Suddenly, the head thug grabbed her in a head lock. Her breath caught in her throat, and she dropped the slurpees. "Oh, come now. I was hoping we could stay and chat, weren't you boys?" The others chuckled darkly.

"Let me go!" Olette growled, squirming. The man laughed briefly, and then stopped. He pulled something from his pocket, and Olette caught her breath as she felt cold steel press against her throat. "I don't think that's going to happen, missy. You're ours now." With that all four men broke out in laughter as Olette continued to squirm against the man's powerful grasp.

The air whistled, and one of the thug's laughter instantly became screams of pain as a small knife wedged itself into his upper forearm. The other three immediately stopped laughing and looked around in bewilderment. "Where'd that come from?" one of them shouted.

Just then, a figure in a black hooded cloak dropped from a roof next to the intersection. His armor glinted in the moonlight. The leader saw him. "Get him!" he yelled.

The injured thug ripped the knife from his arm and charged the phantom with the other two. One of the thugs threw a punch at the cloaked figure's face, but the man simply dodged the punch. He grabbed the thug's outstretched arm, pulled it behind the thug's back, and used his other hand to smash the thug's head against the brick wall, knocking him unconscious. The second thug ran at him, but he blocked the thug's attack, returning with a blow to the thug's chest before finishing him with a palm to the adam's apple. The thug dropped, choking and rolling around in pain. The third came in with a kick aimed at his head, but he ducked under it. He parried the thug's continued assault until finally, the thug pulled out a knife. He stabbed at the hooded man. He managed to cut the man on the arm, but was unable to do much more. The phantom managed to avoid one of the thug's attacks and grabbed his arm. There was a sickening crunch and a cry of pain as the thug's arm snapped. He kicked the broken thug in the chest, sending him flying into a couple of metal trash cans. The leader reached for a pistol which he kept in the back of his pants, but before he could draw it, the tip of a blade poked his neck. He gulped in fear as the man stood before him, hidden blade drawn.

"Drop it," he growled.

"Ok. Ok man, I'm putting it down." He slowly drew the gun, ejected the clip, and tossed the pistol behind him. "See? See, I got rid of it," he said, sweat beading on his forehead, fear glistening in his eyes. The cloaked man just continued to drill him with a glare. The blade never left his neck.

"Leave, before I change my mind about sparing you trash."

The leader backed up slowly, nodding profusely. He turned and sprinted down the alley. The man retracted the blade and began to walk away.

"Wait!" Olette cried. He stopped. "At least let me say thank you." He turned, looked her in the eye, and nodded. "What's your name?" she asked.

The man held up a hand. "My name is of no importance Madonna." He walked closer to her. "Do you need help getting home?" His voice was soft, but rough and held a slight accent. Olette blushed slightly. "That… would be nice, thank you." The man picked up the box of drinks and handed it to her.

"Then let us go," the man said, smiling, and they set off towards the hideout. As they walked, Olette decided to try again. "Why won't you tell me your name?"

The man smiled as they walked. "There are… reasons. Anyway, I'm just glad I was there to help you."

"So am I." Olette replied, and the man chuckled. Olette noticed the cut on his arm, bleeding slightly. "You're hurt," she said. The man waved his hand. "No matter. It's just a scratch."

Olette continued to stare at the wound. _I really should help him. But how will he react? What if he's not actually a friend?_ She looked at his face, saw the friendly smirk, and made up her mind. _He deserves it._ She placed a hand on the cut. The man looked down at her, and his expression turned to shock as a green glow emanated from her hand. After it disappeared, she removed her hand. The cut was healed.

The man looked at her, a mixture of awe and understanding on his face. "So, you're one of the APEX kids."

_Uh-oh._

Sensing her sudden fear, the man smiled and held up his hands. "Do not worry. I am no friend of Langley." He stepped closer to her and lowered his hood. The five o'clock shadow matched his ability in combat, and his medium length brown hair quivered in the slight breeze. "My name is Taevan Auditore, son of Ezio Auditore, the head of the Brotherhood of Assassins." He lifted her hand to his lips.

Olette was stunned (and flattered). "You're… you're an assassin?" Taevan nodded. "But… I thought the Assassins died out a long time ago." Taevan nodded. "So the history books say. But we stick to the shadows. We dropped off the face of the earth for a time, but now, we have returned."

"My name's Olette." She gasped suddenly. "You have to come in and meet my friends. I'm sure we could use your help!"

Taevan nodded and replaced his hood. "Lead the way, Madonna."

A few minutes later, they arrived at the apartment building. Olette looked at her new companion. "Our suite is on the top floor, room 1256." Taevan continued to stare at the roof of the building. "Does the top floor have window access?"

Olette, though puzzled, replied, "Yes, but why?"

Taevan nodded. "Then I will meet you at the top." With that, he sprinted toward the building and began scaling the structure. Olette could only watch in shock. She then headed inside.

When she stepped out of the elevator, Taevan was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, waiting for her. Together, they entered the suite.

"I'm baaaaaack!" she cried, setting the drinks on the counter. The others looked towards the door as Hayner jumped up and ran to her. "Where have you been?" he asked. "I was worried sick." Then he noticed the stranger. He pulled Olette towards him and placed himself between her and Taevan. "Who are you?" he asked. "Hayner!" Olette hissed.

"My name is Taevan Auditore, and I am an assassin. Olette said that you might need our help."

"Our?" Axel asked, an eyebrow quirked. Taevan nodded. "The other Assassins. I'm sure my father and the other members would be willing to help you. I've heard that you've had some trouble with Langley. None of the Assassins are fans of that madhouse."

Zack walked over the young man and shook his hand. "Zack Fair, ex-SOLDIER first class." He paused, thinking. "Didn't Shinra use the Assassins for missions?"

Taevan nodded. "Yes, we do take contracts from Shinra. There are good people there."

"Well," Riku said. "If we have the Assassins, we might be able to hit Langley now while they're recovering."

Axel rubbed the back of his head. "I don't know about that. I'd feel a whole lot more comfortable if Shinra backed us up on this one. I had a video conference with them today about the issue. Unfortunately, it's probably going to take a while, even longer than what we hoped."

Riku groaned. "That's way too long. They'll be ready by then." He turned to the Assassin. "Don't you think we should get them now, Taevan?"

The young man shook his head. "I'd have to agree with your friend-"

"Axel," the redhead interrupted.

"-Axel on this one. More manpower will insure victory for us. The Assassins are skilled, but it's not worth risking human life." He looked Riku in the eye. "Langley plays dirty, after all."

Riku sighed in defeat. "All right, I guess I'll just wait."

Zack stretched. "Well, I'm gonna crash. Night!" he said as he walked toward his room.

"Night!" everyone replied.

Taevan looked at Roxas, who had been quiet the whole time. "How long have you been here?"

"Two days," the blonde replied.

"All right. I'll take first watch tonight. My men and I have been monitoring LST patrols in the area. They haven't gotten close yet, but someone should have an eye open.

Roxas nodded. "Good. I'll relieve you at two. Sound good?"

Taevan grinned. "Fine by me. Before you go though, what's your name?"

The blonde stopped and looked over his shoulder. "Roxas," he said, smiling. Taevan nodded. "A pleasure, Roxas. Sleep well." Roxas nodded and headed for his room.

* * *

Taevan sat out on the balcony watching the roads for movement. He heard the glass door slide open and close and the pattering of bare feet walking across the cement. A blonde girl sat down beside him.

"Madonna, what troubles you?" he asked, never taking his eyes off of the road. Naminé sighed. "I just…" she paused. "I just feel so… worthless." Taevan glanced at her, eyebrow raised.

"Hmm? Why do you say that?" Naminé just shrugged. "Well, you're an assassin and Uncle Zack's a former SOLDIER and the rest of my friends have supernatural abilities." She threw her hands up in the air. "But what do I have? Nothing."

"You love them, don't you," the Assassin said. Naminé nodded. "I've only known them for a couple of months, and they're already my best friends. I love all them. Sora, Kairi," she smiled. "Roxas." She looked up at the star-studded sky. "I'd do whatever I could to help them, but like I said, I can't do anything!" A small tear trickled down her cheek.

Taevan placed a hand on her shoulder. "Everyone has a place. Though your friends may know how to fight, they still need you. You keep them going." Naminé looked up at him, puzzled. Taevan smiled. "You give them a reason to fight. They don't want you to experience the terror that they did. You're their strength." Naminé turned to gaze out over the city once more. "Huh, I never thought about that."

Taevan smiled again. "Like I said, everyone has a place." He looked down at the blonde again. "It's just not always on the frontlines."

Naminé sighed. "I know, thank you for helping me understand. I just wish there was more that I can do."

Throughout this conversation, another one was running through Taevan's head. _Should I? Could she handle it? Would the others approve?_ He made up his mind.

"Your place may be behind-the-scenes as of now… but it doesn't have to be."

Naminé looked back at him. "Huh?"

Taevan looked her straight in the eyes. "How would you like to become an Assassin?"

* * *

I know, it's been forever. And yes, I threw in some Assassin's Creed, I hope no one's upset about this. I don't own anything in this story, except maybe the name Taevan and even then, probably not lol. Reviews are awesome, but don't feel like you're required to. It's a free country after all.


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